Plastic casket



Nov. 5, 1957 A. w. AXELSON PLASTIC CASKET Filed Sept. 13, 1955 n 0 m X A W m m r A I N VEN TOR.

United States PatntJO PLASTIC CASKET v Arthur W. Axelson, Wayne Township, Passaic County, N. J.

Application September 13, 1955, Serial No. 534,080

2 Claims. (Cl. 27-7) The present invention relates to an improved burial casket which is a novel advance in the art in that it, and

appropriate grade of commercial plastics.

Briefly and broadly, it is an object of the invention to provide a so-called plastic casket which may be economically manufactured and sold, which is'light in weight but durable and, what is more important, is such in construction that the base and cover sections, the primary components, are interconnected by way of a substantially fluid-tight and air-tight junctional joint and are susceptible of being sealed preparatory to the final burial step.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel hinges for the complemental sections, these being molded as integral complements of said sections, the respective hinges being such that the parts thereof may be snapped together to promote expeditious assembling of said sections.

Another object of the invention has to do with the joint means wherein one section is provided with a suitably arranged compressibly resilient packing ring, and the other section has continuous or endless cooperating means including a lip which when pressed into contact with the ring provides a satisfactorily constructed and functioning leakproof joint.

Then, too, novelty is predicated on cooperating integral exteriorly disposed members on the vertical walls of the respective sections which function as snap-type latches engaging companion keeper lugs.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved plastic burial casket herein described and claimed;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-section on the approximate line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is an exaggerated fragmentary sectional view illustrating the latch means;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail fragmentary elevation detailing the hinge means and taken on the approximate line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the improved casket, it has already been pointed out that this is preferably constructed from moldable plastics such as may be appropriately colored and lined in keeping with the requirements of structures in this category of endeavor. The base section is denoted generally by the numeral 8, and the top or cover section is denoted generally by the numeral 10. Both sections are hollow and properly fashioned for mating relationship. The section 8 is of one-piece construction while the section 10 is made up of a foot component 12 and a head component 14. The bottom wall 16 is horizontal 2,811,768 Patented Nov. 5, 1957 ice and provided on its underneath side with suitable legs 18 and supporting feet 20. The upper edges of the vertical walls 22 are fashioned with an endless upstanding bead 24 which is essentially circular in cross-section. Extending inwardly into the hollow or receptacle portion of the base section and on a plane below the rib or bead 24, there is a ledge-like flange 26 which is also endless and is provided with an upwardly opening groove. This contains the aforementioned compressibly resilient packing ring 28 whose upper surface is exposed, in the manner illustrated.

The upper section 10 (components 12 and 14 as an entity) embodies horizontal top walls 30, end walls and side walls 32. The lower edge portions of the sides and end walls are provided with a channel 34 which is molded or shaped to conformably receive and substantially en- 7 7 compass the cooperating and jointing bead 24, as perhaps all of its essential components, are constructed from an best shown in Figure 3. The inwardly disposed and extending channel wall 36 is tapered downwardly and may be described as V-shaped in cross-section, and the apical lip at the bottom is pressed firmly into the gasket or ring 28, and this thus provides a substantially leakproof joint. That is to say, the rib 24 fitting into the channel 34 and lip of the wall 36 engaging the packing ring 23 all cooperate in providing the stated significant joint.

One side wall which may be described as the front side wall of the lower or base section 8 is provided exteriorly with one or more keeper lugs 38, as seen in Figure 3, and each lug is encompassed by a complemental member which is here described as a staple 40. This staple cooperates with the lug in defining an opening which accommodates a depending resilient finger or latch 42 carried by the adjacent portion of the front wall of the upper section or sections. On its lower end, the latch has a cam-like detent 44 which, as is obvious, passes down through the opening provided by the staple and is snapped over and releasably engaged with the keeper lug 38. These parts cooperate in providing a highly satisfactory fastening for the sections 8 and 10.

On the opposite or rear side walls, the sections are provided with hinge means. While this may be reversed, it is preferably such that the components thereof are carried by the upper and lower sections in the manner illustrated in the drawings. There may be at least two hinges, but it is unnecessary to specifically describe both other than to say that they are alike. That is to say, the upper edge portion of the side wall of the base section is provided with a pair of coplanar spaced parallel outstanding shanks 46 which, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, have terminal ballshaped retaining and hinging heads 48. These heads and shanks straddle the L-shaped member 50 which is integral with and carried by the adjacent portion of the side wall of the cover section. The latter member may be described as having a horizontal portion 52 and a vertical depending portion 54, which latter is sized so that it fits down between the ball-shaped hinging head. In fact, the vertical edge portions 56 have part-spherical recesses 58 and these define hinging seats. The ball-shaped terminals or heads 48 snap into these seats and cooperate in providing a novel hinge for the sections.

The rear side wall may be provided with recesses, as at 59, to accommodate appropriate carrying handles 60 which are suitably mounted therein.

It is believed that the foregoing description when considered in conjunction with the views of the drawings will be suificient to enable the reader to understand the construction and the manner in which the coacting components thereof cooperate in accomplishing the end results desired. For this reason, a more lengthy description or a specific statement of operation is thought to be unnecessary.

Changes in shape, size, and rearrangement of parts which come within the spirit and scope of the over-all concept may be resorted to in actual practice without departing from the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is .claimedas new is as follows: g

1, A burial casket constructed of mold'able commercial plastics and comprising: a hollow basesection'havinga bottom wall and upstanding side and end walls the upper edges of which have an endless bead and an inwardly extending endless flange formed with an upwardly opening groove provided with an exposed compressiblyresilient packing ring; and a hollow cover section embodying head and foot complements having a top wall and depending side and end walls in cooperating alignment with said first named side and end walls, the lower edge portions of said depending side and end walls having an endless channel conformably receiving, fitting over and encompassing said bead and thus joining the base and cover sections together, the inwardly disposed wall of said channel being V-shaped 'in cross-section and providing an apical sealing lip pressed firmly into tight engagement with said packing ring, at least one of the side walls of said base section being provided exteriorly with at least one outstanding horizontal keeper lug and a complemental U-shaped staple, the adjacent portion of at least one depending side wall of said cover section having a resilient latch passing down through the opening provided by said staple and being provided with a detent snapped over and releasably engaging said keeper lug.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein another one of said depending side walls is provided with an L-shaped hinging member having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical edges of the latter portion having depressions, the adjacent portion of the cooperating vertical side wall of said base section having exterior outstanding shanks provided with ball-shaped terminal heads seated in their respective depressions, whereby to provide a hinge, the parts of which may be readily joined together or parted, as desired.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 278,354 Miller May 29, 1883 1,727,242 McKee Sept. 3, 1929 2,544,168 Lusby Mar. 6, 1951 I g c 8 FOREIGN PATENTS 544,554 Great Britain Oct. 11, 1950 

